TITLE:
Conceptual Foundations of a Cognitive Health Program for Hispanic Patients with Minor Neurocognitive Disorder
AUTHORS:
Jorge A. Herrera Pino, Jose Armas, Nora Dieguez, Eduardo Alarcon
KEYWORDS:
Mild Cognitive Impairment; Minor Neurocognitive Disorder; Cognitive Reserve; Cognitive Rehabilitation; Attention; Memory; Executive Functions
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.4 No.10A,
October
17,
2013
ABSTRACT: The purpose of
this paper is to present the conceptual foundations used in the development of
a cognitive health program for Hispanic patients who report memory concerns or
complaints to their primary care physicians. These models are drawn from the
field of neuropsychology, both as a professional endeavor and as a scientific discipline.
This program has been developed based on prevailing models of higher cerebral
functions, addressing primarily attention, memory, and executive functions. The
role of neuropsychologists as active participants in the improvement of the
cognitive status of the patients referred to them is not only emphasized in
this article as going much beyond the diagnostic process, but also having an
active participation in the subsequent treatment process. The models of
attention that have served as the bases for the MCCI COGNITIVE HEALTH PROGRAM
are those developed by Allan F. Mirsky and Michael I. Posner, while the memory
model used is authored by Alan Baddeley. The two models of executive functions
that are employed in the development of this program are those of Russell
Barkley and Elkonon Goldberg. This program was also very much anchored on the
concept of cognitive reserve and the work of Yaakov Stern was incorporated into
the models used for the development of the program. The program is implemented
in two phases. Patients referred by their primary care physicians undergo a functional
neuropsychological evaluation to determine the nature and extent of their
memory impairments. The results obtained in these evaluations are interpreted
using the models referred to above. A treatment plan is developed and the
program is implemented through the use of computer assisted cognitive rehabilitation
procedures. The advantages of using computer assisted procedures are discussed
in this article.